Joshua Simon Bloom (born June 8, 1974 in Washington, D.C.) is an American astrophysicist, chair and professor of

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and was the CTO and co-founder of the

machine-learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of inquiry devoted to understanding and building methods that 'learn', that is, methods that leverage data to improve performance on some set of tasks. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence. Machine ...

compan
wise.io
(acquired by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

, 2016). He received a Bachelor of Arts in

and astrophysics and

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

from the

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1996, an M.Phil from Cambridge University in 1997, and a PhD in

from the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

in 2002. He was a Junior Fellow of the

Harvard Society of Fellows The Society of Fellows is a group of scholars selected at the beginnings of their careers by Harvard University for their potential to advance academic wisdom, upon whom are bestowed distinctive opportunities to foster their individual and intell ...

from 2002 to 2005. His astronomy research focuses on

gamma-ray bursts In gamma-ray astronomy, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are immensely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies. They are the most energetic and luminous electromagnetic events since the Big Bang. Bursts can last from ten milli ...

and other astrophysical transients such as supernovae and tidal disruption events. He is author of the book ''What Are Gamma-Ray Bursts?'' published by

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financia ...

in 2011.

Research

In 2009, ScienceWatch wrote that Bloom's

"work ranks at No. 10 by total cites, based on 85 papers cited a total of 3,639 times. Five of these papers are on the lists of the 20 most-cited papers over the past decade and over the past two years." He has published over 300 refereed articles and was

principal investigator In many countries, the term principal investigator (PI) refers to the holder of an independent grant and the lead researcher for the grant project, usually in the sciences, such as a laboratory study or a clinical trial. The phrase is also often us ...

of the Peters Automated Infrared Telescope (PAIRITEL) at the

Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory The Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory is an American astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO); it is their largest field installation outside of their main site in Cambridge, Massachusetts ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. He is also

of the Synoptic Infrared Survey Telescope (SASIR). Project and was co-chair of the transients and variable star group of the

Large Synoptic Survey Telescope The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, previously referred to as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), is an astronomical observatory currently under construction in Chile. Its main task will be carrying out a synoptic astronomical survey, the Le ...

(LSST). Some of Bloom's current work focuses on the classification of astrophysical transients using

techniques. He suggested that GRB 110328A was due to a new class of relativistic outflow events from tidal disruption of a star by a massive black hole.

Honors and awards

Bloom was awarded the Herchel Smith Harvard Scholarship to Cambridge University in 1996, and was a Hertz Foundation Fellow at the

. In 2006, Bloom was named as a Sloan Research Fellow by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. In 2008, he was included as one of

Astronomy magazine ''Astronomy'' is a monthly United States, American magazine about astronomy. Targeting amateur astronomy, amateur astronomers, it contains columns on sky viewing, reader-submitted astrophotography, astrophotographs, and articles on astronomy and ...

's ten "rising stars."National magazines tout two chemists and two astronomers as top innovators in their fields"
, University of California Newsroom, Berkeley, CA, August 22, 2008. In 2009, he was awarded the

Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy The Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy is awarded annually by the American Astronomical Society to a young (less than age 36) astronomer for outstanding achievement in observational astronomical research. The prize is named after Newton Lacy Pi ...

from the American Astronomical Society. In 2010, he was named as the '' Sophie and

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was ...

Visiting Professor'' at

Copenhagen University The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

. He was awarded the Faculty Research Award from

Two Sigma Two Sigma Investments is a New York City-based hedge fund that uses a variety of technological methods, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and distributed computing, for its trading strategies. The firm is run by John Overdec ...

in 2019. He is the Co-Creator of the

VOEvent VOEvent is a standardized language used to report observations of Astronomy, astronomical events; it was officially adopted in 2006 by the IVOA, International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA). Though most VOEvent messages currently issued are rel ...

messaging scheme for astronomical transients.

Teaching

Bloom teaches

to graduate and undergraduate students at the

. In addition to astronomy-centric courses, he teaches the "Python Computing for Data Science" graduate course, aimed at PhD students in data-rich fields. Some of his lectures are available to the public as podcasts and video streams (

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

class).

Tennis

Bloom held an

International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there ...

45+ Masters Tour Singles Ranking of 993 in 2021 and in September 2022 was ranked 273 in the

United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

Men's 45 National Standings List for Singles.

References

External links

Joshua Bloom homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloom, Joshua Living people 1974 births Harvard College alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge California Institute of Technology alumni University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty Sloan Research Fellows